Try as I Might, I'm Never Strong Enough
by Sakucherryblossoms
Summary: Sakura had grown incredibly since her weak years as a genin, but that didn't seem to help her any. It seemed to only catch the attention of an infamous group known as Akatsuki, including their Uchiha. This seemed to only piss off the pinkette more...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Try as I might, I'm never strong enough

Sakura had grown incredibly since her weak years as a genin, but that didn't seem to help her any. It seemed to only catch the attention of an infamous group known as Akatsuki. And this seemed to only piss off the pinkette even more.

Hehe, sorry for adding a different story whilst in the middle of trying to update all of my other stories. It's been hard, and I've had such wonderful inspiration for new stories, I can't help but write new ones. I seriously have around 75 story ideas… and yes, if you were wondering, I do have no life : ) please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p>Dodging a sword that was swung her way, Sakura flipped backward, and slinked away from her opponent. Her breathing was slightly labored, but that was to be expected. She had been trying to fight this man off for a little over an hour, and she was running low on chakra; Sakura assumed if she didn't end it soon then she would not be the victor in this battle. Of course she knew there would be another member lurking somewhere near; the famous Akatsuki always seemed to appear in pairs of two. Sakura was just worrying about the one in front of her first, and then she would try to think of something else to deter the other member from her course.<p>

Watching as the man before her cackled darkly, Sakura forced more chakra into her fists. She had already delivered four chakra infused punches that had connected, and the man seemed to not be slowing down in the least bit, but Sakura wasn't surprised. Kisame Hoshigake was a strong opponent; she had often heard that the male had a great tolerance for pain. The fact that Sakura knew she had broken at least three of his ribs, his left arm, and seriously fractured his left leg was enough support for these assumptions.

The blue skinned Akatsuki member had only slowed in the slightest, but that was enough for Sakura to crack a smirk on her face. She had been able to defeat an Akatsuki member before, though she had not been alone like she was now. But, Sakura was older, and much more experienced than she had been when she was only fifteen. She was a high class jounin ninja, and was expected to take the anbu exams in the fall… if she made it till then.

Oh yes, Sakura knew who Kisame's partner was, and she knew very well she would not be able to beat him, even at full strength. Gritting her teeth together, Sakura thought that if she could at least kill one more Akatsuki member maybe her childhood friend would stand a better chance at surviving.

The Akatsuki were still very much after Naruto, and rumors stated that the members had collected seven out of nine of the Bijuu. The thought was startling; had these men really been powerful enough to defeat seven Bijuu? Shaking her head slightly, of course they had, she thought; they were a group of ten terrorizing shinobi, and Sakura had only been in the presence of four members, though she had heard about many others.

Ignoring the sensation in her belly that told her there was danger present, (really, Sakura mused, her stomach told her she was in danger now; and she hadn't been in it before?) Sakura slammed her eyes closed and flipped backward again. It was obvious why her senses were tingling as Sakura landed quietly on a branch several yards away from her previous spot; she had not sensed Itachi Uchiha until he had almost been before her.

It seemed Kisame's partner had thought the battle had gone on long enough; Sakura had never thought Itachi was one to be impatient, the thought almost made her giggle. She knew the Uchiha's game though; he would more than likely try to catch her in a genjutsu, which would not surprise her in the least. It seemed an Uchiha would always count on genjutsu, she thought idly, wimps.

Ignoring the need to open her eyes, Sakura instead sent most of her remaining chakra into her other senses; it would help her detect the Akatsuki members as they moved, even if they were trying to be as quiet as the wind. Hearing Kisame's slightly increased breath draw closer to her, Sakura had to force herself not to smile. The blue skinned man was strong, but she'd prefer to fight him over the Uchiha any day.

As she heard the pitch in the wind increase, Sakura quickly ducked under Kisame's large blade. The Samehada had sucked most of Sakura's chakra, even the bit she had been storing up over the years just in case. The sword was as nasty as its wielder, Sakura noted dryly as the sword tried to suck even more chakra from her being; nasty and greedy.

Sakura had never been one for sending glares, but she was sure if her eyes were open, the one she would have sent to Kisame would have stopped him dead in his tracks. Shooting a kick out from her kneeled position, Sakura felt a bit more satisfaction as she felt it impact with one of Kisame's shins.

Knowing she had to get out of there quickly, Sakura did a backward roll until she quickly stood to her feet. Flaring her chakra lightly, Sakura tried to sense where the elder Uchiha had gone.

"Shit shit shit," Sakura cursed as she felt the Uchiha's chakra behind her. Feeling the male's chakra flare significantly, Sakura quickly brought her hands together before creating a substitution of herself in the form of a log; she really did not want to be burned today...

The trick she had just done had saved her ass quite a few times in the first chuunin exams she had participated in. Appearing a foot behind Kisame, Sakura could tell the shark-like man had already expected her arrival. As he turned to slash his sword down on top of her, Sakura made one last attempt at connecting a chakra hardened punch.

Bringing back her fist, Sakura allowed extra chakra to focus around her fist. Sakura knew she would get extreme chakra burn from exerting so much, but she really couldn't stop herself. The previous blows had not been very effective against her current opponent; Sakura was just hopeful the Samehada would not suck all her chakra dry before her fist connected with his torso.

Sakura wasn't stupid enough to aim her punch at Kisame's heart; the male was incredibly tall, and her fist would never make it to her intended location with the time she had. Settling on aiming for something just as vital, but lower, Sakura's fist connected with Kisame's gut, and he went spiraling backward.

Sakura felt incredibly pleased as she heard Kisame's body slam through at least four trees that had been more than thirty feet back. Refusing to let the victorious feeling calm her erratic breathing, Sakura waited until she heard the movement of the other Akatsuki member.

She had known Itachi was going to use a powerful fire ninjutsu that was why she had used the substitution jutsu to get away from him. She had teleported directly behind Kisame because she had assumed that the Uchiha would not have used the fireball against his partner. Sakura's assumption had been correct, but in the commotion she had caused when sending Kisame through the trees, she had lost the Uchiha, and now had no idea where he had gone to.

Trying to focus her remaining bit of chakra into her feet, Sakura assumed her only bet was to run for it. She hoped Itachi would not chase after her, and rather stay back in concern for his partner; it was a long shot, but she had to try it either way.

Shooting off in the direction that she had been coming from, Sakura assumed she was closer to Suna than she was to Konoha. The idea of running through the desert in this heat made her sigh rather dramatically, but she would rather face the desert heat than another Akatsuki member any day.

Really, if the two hadn't caught her returning home from a mission that had ultimately drained a quarter of her chakra, Sakura would have put up a more decent fight. She was sure the Samehada would have drained more chakra from her, but she still would have had more to fight with. And maybe she could have tried to meet the Uchiha head on then; she was sure inner Sakura would have been positively gleeful to challenge a sharingan wielder.

Sakura's body stopped as she felt a hand tighten on her wrist. Ignoring the want to open her eyes, Sakura could tell who this ninja was by chakra alone; it seemed Itachi Uchiha had not went to check on his partner like she would have liked. Well… that was terribly rude of him.

But what was even more unnerving than the Uchiha capturing her so easily, was the incredible silence that had overcome the forest. In their battle, Sakura had noticed that the two males had not said anything to her; they had not even uttered a sentence to each other. The thought irritated her more than anything else, probably. She realized she was a Konoha nin, and Konoha nin were probably deemed 'kill on sight' by their leader, but why the hell hadn't they even said one single word to her? Were they trying to tease her? That thought made Sakura growl slightly.

Twisting her body backward, Sakura felt the grip on her wrist tighten, but that didn't stop her. The bruising hold the Uchiha had on her arm would eventually break her wrist, and she knew it would hurt, but she was ready for it. Arching backward awkwardly, Sakura felt her wrist crack but did not stop her movements. Bringing her free fist up, Sakura aimed a punch towards the Uchiha gut.

The male let go of her wrist and quickly parried the fist with his palm. The punch rushed past the male, and Itachi used her distraction of trying to hit him to hit her. Using an upward palm, Itachi slammed the palm into Sakura's stomach.

The pink haired woman let out a gasp of breath, but tried to scramble away from the Uchiha, even though she knew her attempts were futile. Opening her eyes out of realization, Sakura knew she was going to have to face the sharingan one way or another. She would rather have it be on her terms as opposed to when the Uchiha wanted to grace it upon her. And at least this way, inner Sakura would be ready.

Glaring a fierce emerald green, Sakura realized as her eyes began to flutter closed, that the combination of Itachi's sharingan and her emerald green eyes reminded her of Christmas.

XxxX

When her eyes opened again, Sakura realized she was in the world of the sharingan. Really, being tied to a cross should have scared her more than it did, but it seemed not to bother her too much. Sakura knew that her inner would never allow pain to be placed upon her while in a genjutsu.

Hearing some footsteps before her, Sakura raised her eyebrow as the Uchiha looked down at her menacingly. His eyes were emotionless and cold; Sakura could see why her ex-teammate had been so fearful of the man before her. "Welcome to the World of the sharingan."

Itachi's lips had not moved, but she knew it was his emotionless voice that had spoken. It was probably just the genjutsu, and though she was sure it scared other people, Sakura really wasn't impressed. Looking utterly apathetic, Sakura sighed before hearing her own voice; her lips did not move.

"An Uchiha?" Sakura almost cracked a smile at the look on the Uchiha's face. It was obvious he was still trying to be emotionless and unaffected, but it seemed that he couldn't be. Inner Sakura could be a scary mother fucker when she wanted to be, and it seemed that she deemed now was a necessary time to be one. "How absolutely rich. Want to play a game, hmmm?"

Sakura watched as Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly, and his sharingan became more intense. She had to hand it to him; he wasn't shivering in fear yet. That in itself was a miracle, but then again Itachi had murdered his whole clan without batting an eyelash, maybe he could deal with a bit of Inner Sakura's scariness.

"I will not put up with your annoying self any longer, Kunochi," Itachi said while looking directly at Sakura, but Sakura had to fight off her laughter; she assumed Itachi Uchiha would want a serious reaction.

But knowing how her inner could react, Sakura was almost grateful for the words he had just spoken. The word "annoying" was inner Sakura's least favorite word; it had past connections with her ex-teammate, whom inner Sakura would like to rip out the heart of; if he had one, Sakura liked to chip in.

"You will not touch her," Sakura's inner stated; it's obvious the Uchiha had pissed her off. In an instant, the crimson world flickered in and out, before everything began to be focused in regular color. Sakura was no longer tied to the cross, but the image of the cross still lingered closely; this proved to Sakura that she and Itachi were still in a genjutsu.

Itachi's crimson eyes were wider than usual, and Sakura caught herself smirking at that. Looking to inner Sakura, she waited until her inner spoke. "Sakura does not have enough chakra to break your genjutsu alone, Uchiha," inner Sakura growled out. "But I myself have my own chakra system Sakura may borrow any time she sees fit. Do not underestimate her."

The Uchiha didn't say anything, but his eyes did tell Sakura something. It was a small feeling that she could see, but it was obvious to her that the male was pleased about something; even as emotionless as the Uchiha usually was, Sakura could tell that he wasn't hiding his emotions as well as she should have been.

"Perfect," Itachi muttered before flickering out of view. Looking around quickly, Sakura's eyes met that of inner Sakura's. It was obvious the twin pinkettes didn't quite know what to do; damn confusing Uchihas…

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she watched the cross behind her disappear. She could feel the world she was now in was only created by the soothing chakra of inner Sakura.

"He left the genjutsu," Inner Sakura growled out before looking to Sakura. "My guess is that you will lose consciousness, and be captured."

"It will be something we'll be able to break out of, though, right?" Sakura asked as the world began to fade into black.

"Oh most definitely," Inner Sakura said with a nod, as she too began to fade into the darkness. "We'll figure it out when we get there."

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>Sooo, do you like it? I'm thinking about making this a Itachi x Sakura X Sasuke love mix : ) with twists and turns in the plot, like I'm sure you all enjoy. Let me know what you think, please!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Try as I might, I'm never Strong Enough 2

Hey guys! I'm so excited that everyone likes this story so far. It has really been fun to write. Thank you to everyone who has favorited, alerted, or reviewed this story!

Don't worry friends, I realize this story has not been updated in a while; there is a method to my madness, sort of. I have been becoming less and less inspired to write, but then I get short bursts here and there. Currently, I just want to make this story as awesome as possible; that is what is taking me so long to update. I apologize; hopefully it will not take me that long to update this story again. Hopefully the next chapters will be a little longer as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p>As she woke up, Sakura realized one thing: all Uchiha men were bastards. She came to this conclusion after awaking on an uncomfortably firm bed with a memorable sort of stiffness in her neck. Itachi being the ever so kind Uchiha man he is had hit the same pressure point in the back of her neck that Sasuke had done to her years previous. Sakura was beginning to wonder if it was mandatory for an Uchiha to know that specific pressure point before reaching a certain age.<p>

At least Sasuke had been kind enough to leave afterwards… Sakura assumed Itachi had taken her with him. As she started to sit up in the bed she had been given, Sakura's frown increased as she looked around at her meager surroundings. The only satisfaction she got out of this whole situation was the fact that she had been able to inflict a large amount of damage to one of the Akatsuki members, and Sakura felt like that wasn't even a fair enough trade for where she was currently being held.

She was enclosed in a small room that was suppressing her chakra. Sakura could tell that there were chakra seals all along the walls, ceiling, windows, and floor. That meant, even if Sakura had enough chakra to break out of this place (which she was sure she didn't at this point) that she couldn't even try to leave until someone lifted the seals surrounding her. Sakura wasn't stupid enough to try and break the seals anyway; if they were done by Itachi Uchiha that meant that she probably didn't have a chance in breaking them. Seals weren't really her thing anyway.

And it wasn't like the room she was being kept in was horrible: Sakura could at least give the Akatsuki that one. Sakura didn't really care for the crimson red paint color on the walls, but she did very much appreciate the book shelf in the corner. The book shelf seemed to be stocked with anything she would ever be interested in reading, not that she would grab a book or anything. She didn't trust her surroundings enough to be comfortable, and she couldn't read without being comfortable.

Sitting pretzel style in the middle of the room, Sakura closed her emerald eyes and tried to concentrate on the world around her. Even if she was sealed in, Sakura could still feel faint chakra signatures that were within the same building she was being kept in. With her chakra control, Sakura was able to sense the powerful chakra of the Akatsuki members, even through the chakra barriers she was surrounded in. All in all she could sense about five chakra signatures, and even then most of those were muffled chakra signatures. Sakura knew there had to be more shinobi who were concealing their chakra signatures; the Akatsuki was a group that was made up of nine different members.

Out of the nine that were members now, she personally had met three of them: Deidara, Itachi, and Kisame. She knew a few things about the other members, including their names and a few appearances, but other than that the Akatsuki organization was shrouded in mystery.

Sakura knew of Hidan, Kakazu, Zetsu, Konan, and Tobi, though she did not know a lot about them. She also knew they had a leader of some kind, but Sakura was also clueless as to who or what this leader was. The Bingo book was extremely unhelpful when it came to the members of Akatsuki, though, that could be attributed to the fact that many people didn't survive their encounters with Akatsuki.

Opening her eyes, Sakura let out a soft sigh as she turned to glance at the stiff bed. The bed wasn't too unbearable, but then again Sakura didn't really plan on staying too long to enjoy the bed for more than a few days. The bed and the book shelf were the only two pieces of furniture in the room, and the room had only one door. Sakura assumed the room had had other pieces, but they must have been removed when she was placed in here.

Clenching her fists together, Sakura flinched slightly as her fingers brushed each other. Thinking back onto the fight she had with the two Akatsuki members, Sakura was surprised that she did not have more injuries. She had remembered all the injuries she had inflicted to the opponent, and all the ones that she had gotten. The ones Sakura had received were far less severe than the ones she had given, and the only one that was currently bothering her right now, her hand, had been self-inflicted.

Well she had used too much chakra in trying to harm Kisame, but it had been worth it. She had finally been able to see the blue man fall, before she was rudely interrupted in her escape attempt by Itachi. The sharp pain in her wrist also reminded her of the other semi-self-inflicted injury that she had. When she had tried to escape Itachi's strong grip, Sakura's wrist had snapped in the process.

Not that it really was bothering her, but if she did want to plan an escape attempt, then she would need to heal it before then. Bringing what little chakra she had left into her hand, Sakura started to set her broken wrist. She wouldn't be able to heal it yet, but it would be easier to maneuver around a bit. And, if any of the Akatsuki members decided they wanted to visit her, she would still be able to deliver a bone crushing blow.

The slight irritation in her wrist soothed somewhat, and the only thing left that hurt was her other hand. There was a slight welting on the hand because of the chakra burn, and the skin was slightly discolored. Sighing, Sakura brought a little more chakra into her chakra burned hand, and began to rethink the battle between her and the two Akatsuki members.

Had they been going easy on her? Thinking back on it, Sakura thought that it had been strange to fight the two members separately. Akatsuki members were paired in teams of two for a reason, and usually the two members worked flawlessly together. There had to be a reason for doing so… but Sakura really couldn't understand why. Had they been trying to gauge her skill level when she was fighting Kisame? Was that the reason Itachi had intervened only after she had essentially beat Kisame? The idea seemed weird, but so did a lot of other thoughts that came to her.

She wasn't stupid enough to believe that the Akatsuki wanted her for her talent, or abilities. Sure she was one of the best medical shinobi in the whole fire country, but Sakura doubted that was why she was here. The Akatsuki had been doing fine without a medic for this long, and Sakura would rather hurt the Akatsuki than help them. There was something about the way she was attacked… it just didn't seem right to her; there was something off about the whole thing.

Sighing slightly, Sakura felt a familiar chakra signature draw closer to her locked quarters. This had been a chakra signature she had not felt earlier, and Sakura didn't move in her position as the person came closer; even if she had wanted to launch an attack on Itachi, the Uchiha would know before she did it, and it's not like she had the chakra to even try it.

Hearing his quiet footsteps lead up to her door, Sakura knew he had only made the noise as well as released his chakra signature for her benefit, and that thought confused her. Why would he do anything to benefit her? Shaking her head slightly, Sakura believed she would be getting the answers shortly enough.

Sakura felt the slight surge of chakra before the seal around the room was released. Keeping her eyes averted from the door, she slowly waited. It didn't take long before the door was opened, and the Uchiha took long fluid strides to her seated location. Keeping her eyes focused on her lap, Sakura waited for him to speak, because she knew if he was in this room there was a reason for it.

After a few minutes, Sakura could practically feel the irritation radiating off of the Uchiha. Ha, she thought, serves him right.

"Kunochi," Itachi's cool voice disrupted the stillness of the room.

"Shinobi?" Sakura said as she raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner. She really was done with the games the Akatsuki usually played. She was going to find out the reason they were keeping her here, and she was going to do it while being annoying. He had called her annoying… it was his own fault, really.

"I don't have time for your childishness," Itachi's tone was quiet but authoritative. It was obvious to Sakura that he was used to getting what he wanted without really having to speak a lot; she was sure his aura usually scared people into submission. Sakura had to agree that the Uchiha before was a force to be reckoned with, and that would most definitely scare most people. Luckily for Sakura, she wasn't most people.

"And I really don't have time to sit here in this room all day," Sakura said as she stood from her spot on the floor. If Itachi had come here to speak to her for some reason, she knew he wouldn't knock her out if she got annoying. Prisoners weren't supposed to cooperate with the enemy anyways; he had to expect some type of resistance.

After Sakura's response, she noticed the Uchiha's face tense slightly. It was only a small movement, but it was something that the Uchiha wasn't known for doing; was she making him lose his cool? "Do not make this any harder than it has to be," Itachi said in his cold voice again. His aura was darker now, and his eyes were glaring at her. Sakura almost felt a shiver at the tone. "I need to ask you some questions. Answer them and I will not torture you."

Sakura sighed before giving Itachi a hesitant nod; she didn't want to give in, but she was particularly curios as to why she was being kept her in the first place. She would never say anything that would harm Konoha; the black haired nin had to know that…. "Ask away."

"I do not have the patience for you to lie to me, Kunochi," Itachi's voice was back to being quiet but surprisingly less dark. "What village are you loyal to?"

Sakura almost snorted before nodding to her headband. "Konoha." If Itachi was going to ask her simple questions like these, Sakura wasn't going to stop him.

"How loyal are you to your village?" Itachi questioned while he seemed to stalk around the pink haired girl, circling her like she was some type of prey. It was almost like he was waiting for her to do, or say something wrong. Sakura's eyebrow rose, but she answered his question quickly.

"I am willing to die before I give you any important information dealing with Konoha and her allies," Sakura spoke with a hint of determination and defiance. Of course she wouldn't tell him she would fight tooth and nail before she actually would allow herself to be killed by the Akatsuki.

"Hmm," Itachi's voice seemed to become more and more pleased as the two continued talking; Sakura was concerned with where this was taking them. "If you had the chance to kill an enemy of Konoha, would you do it?"

What the hell was he getting at? Sakura turned slightly as she felt Itachi start to stalk behind her. Turning around, she glared into his fierce red eyes. "What the hell kind of game are you playing here, Uchiha?"

"I don't play games, kunochi," the calmness in Itachi's voice seemed to piss off Sakura even more. He was acting so nonchalant about these questions, and even though the answers should have been common knowledge, Sakura felt like Itachi was pushing her buttons for a reason. "Now answer the question."

"Of course," Sakura said as her eyes flickered with a hint of anger. "Don't pretend to be stupid, Uchiha. You know every Konoha shinobi is loyal to the village."

Inner Sakura snickered quietly in Sakura's brain after she said that. Hadn't Itachi been a Konoha Shinobi at one time…

Sighing, Sakura's anger deflated a little as she looked up at Itachi. The raven haired Uchiha looked like he was a little less than pleased with her previous answer. Sakura was increasingly becoming annoyed with how she was being treated by this man, and she was also becoming extremely confused. "If I had the chakra, I would try to kill you right now. Is that enough?"

Sakura watched as the raven haired male's eyebrow rose… what kind of reaction was this? To her he looked like he was calculating something; something important.

"I suppose that will do for now," Itachi stated quietly with a slight nod. He took one more look at Sakura before he started to turn towards the door. "You are to remain in your room until I come for you again. Do not make this more difficult than it has to be… you will not be able to escape these walls."

Sakura almost snorted at him; she wasn't stupid enough to try to escape when she had no chakra. She'd wait a little longer than that. Also, she had to discover what country she was in before she even started to escape. It wouldn't do to have her running blindly around in a foreign country.

As Itachi closed her door and relocked the seals, Sakura thought about another reason for her to stay in this place a little longer. She was more than curious now to what the Uchiha's intentions were. The questions he was asking her had nothing to do with Konoha itself, only her loyalty to Konoha. Frowning, Sakura sat back down in her seat. Maybe she needed to talk to Inner Sakura about this.


	3. Chapter 3

Try as I might, I'm never strong enough 3

Sorry for the long update; I've been trying to think of how to go about this story, and I think I have finally figured it out. Sorry for the short chapter; I really am trying to make them longer. Happy reading : )

I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p>She had been talking with Inner Sakura for several hours when she felt the chakra signature of Itachi Uchiha appear before her door again. The only conclusions her and her Inner had drawn had been that the Akatsuki had wanted to test her abilities for some reason, and the two members that had fought her deemed her abilities capable for the task they needed her for.<p>

It was unnerving, unsettling, and extremely pissing the pink haired kunochi off. She was ready for the organization to stop jerking her around.

As the seals unlocked, Sakura was surprised to feel another chakra signature beside Itachi's. With the seals, the chakra signature had been completely masked, that in in itself was scary. With the chakra control Sakura had, she could not even mask her chakra as completely as the new comer had done. Sitting quietly in the middle of the room, Sakura waited for the new member to make a move. She had been able to take some sort of comfort in the fact that Itachi had not killed her; that was why she had been so hostile towards him. The chakra signature she felt from this new Akatsuki member… it was something she didn't want to mess with.

The door opened, and Itachi walked in looking a tad bit stiffer than he usually did; there was something in his posture that made him look uncomfortable. That scared Sakura even more.

"So this is her?" a voice spoke as a figure made its way through the doorframe. Sakura's eyes immediately looked down before she could even fully look at this person; she had seen a flash of red near the stranger's eyes… she didn't need to know anything other than this stranger was a sharingan wielder, and he was incredibly strong.

Itachi did not answer, but Sakura assumed he affirmed that this was "her," whatever that meant. Maybe she would finally gain a few answers as to why she was there. Inner Sakura was already screeching inside her brain; if answers included this man, Inner Sakura did not want Sakura to know the answers.

"Who would believe a pink haired girl could be important to so many people?" The man said as he sounded slightly amused. Sakura tightened her hand slightly at the comment; why did they always have to comment on her hair color?

"I am also pleased to hear about how strong you are, Sakura," the way he said her name made Sakura want to flinch; she refused to even move, however. "Poor Kisame is still in the medical wing… ahh, but there was no doubt in my mind, I knew you wouldn't be able to stand up against Itachi; the sharingan is just too much for all ninja, really. Though I am very pleased at your strength; join the Akatsuki. Join my organization and help me capture the tailed beasts."

The man was telling her, and not asking her. That in itself made Sakura angry. There would be no way Sakura would ever join the organization willingly; she refused to ever go against her best friend.

Another thing that Sakura wondered about, well at least Inner Sakura wondered about, was the fact that this man seemed to not have the knowledge of Itachi and her fight. She had been the one to break through Itachi's genjutsu; had Itachi forgot to tell his leader that?

Sakura stayed silent as she looked to the floor. If she stayed silent, would they leave her alone? She knew they wouldn't, however, and when she heard the dark figure before her grunt, she knew the time she had been given to respond was up.

"I understand it's a lot to think about," the man said with a bit of humor in his voice; Sakura did not find this situation humorous at all. The man was a masochist, and he probably just liked watching her squirm. "It's a big decision. I'll give you until tomorrow."

With that said, the male walked out of the room. Sakura still did not look up until she heard the door close. Looking to the only other person left in the room, Sakura's emerald eyes were filled with questions as she looked to the crimson eyes of the other.

Before Sakura could say anything, Itachi gave her a look that clearly said "Do not say anything." With the look Sakura was given, she was a little more curious than scared; she sat quietly and waited for Itachi to continue. Itachi quickly went through a couple hand signs before the seals in the room were activated. Raising an eyebrow, Sakura knew that the only reason Itachi had reactivated the seals was to keep the room quiet; not that it would really help against high quality ninja. But the only reason he would want to keep the room quiet would be either to torture her (to where her screams could not be heard by other people) or to talk to her about certain things he did not want anyone to know about. Sakura was thinking the former was the more likely of the two… but then why had the raven haired man told her to be quiet? Sakura felt something else was going on here, and she didn't like It one bit.

Slowly, Sakura stood from her spot on the floor and raised her fists. She may not have a lot of chakra at the moment, but she refused to do anything without a fight. The situation that she was currently in was confusing her too much; she had to do something, and the only ration (well it was irrational, really) thing she could think to do was to attack him.

Before she could even move two feet, Itachi was before her. Two fingers lifted her chin upward, and Sakura cursed as her eyes caught sight of Itachi's swirling red sockets.

XxxX

"It is time to prove your loyalty to Konoha," Itachi said even before she was able to open her eyes in the world of the sharingan. The statement itself confused her, and Sakura immediately called upon Inner Sakura for support.

"Uchiha," Inner Sakura said with a glare as she poofed into existence. "What do you want?"

Before he could respond, however, Sakura noticed something. She was not held against a cross this time around; their surroundings were actually completely different. The group of three ninja (well, Inner Sakura counted herself as a ninja) were in a forest of trees, and Sakura thought aching that is reminded her of a forest near Konoha.

"Why are we here?" Sakura questioned as she looked to her surroundings. Was he just teasing her with a scene from home? Maybe this would be where the torture would begin…

"I needed a place where he could not hear us," Itachi spoke quietly as he looked directly to Sakura. "There was a reason I did not tell Madara everything that had happened in our fight."

"Madara…" the name sounded so familiar to the woman with pink hair. Looking to the Uchiha in question, she watched him sigh slightly before speaking.

"I am not going to explain everything," Itachi said as he took a small step forward. "I will in time, but at present, time is extremely short. That man is the leader of the Akatsuki and one of the last remaining Uchiha members. His goal is to take over the world."

"I've heard that one before," Sakura said with a slight sneer of disgust; really, all madmen were the same. Why the hell did Itachi deem it necessary to tell her this? She recoiled away from Itachi as he took another step forward; the murder was too close to comfort for Sakura. "It's always the same with maniacs."

"He will place the whole world under the ultimate sharingan," Itachi said. "He will place everyone under a genjutsu that cannot be broken by anything. In this genjutsu Madara wishes to be ruler of the world. He will start his plan after he has captured all of the bijuu; he will use them to gain the necessary power."

Sakura was in shock; why was he telling her this? Why wasn't he acting like the non-caring, mass murder he was supposed to be? To her, the Itachi right in front of her appeared to be someone who actually cared for humanity. Could this be a trick to get into her head? She would keep the idea as a possibility… anything was now a possibility.

"I have a responsibility to stop him," Itachi spoke. "And so do you. Do not do anything to get yourself killed… For now you must join the ranks of Akatsuki. I will talk with you again soon."

With that said, Sakura felt the genjutsu dissipate, and Sakura was left with a feeling of homesickness as she left the beautiful trees of Konoha. As she appeared in the room in the Akatsuki base, Sakura gave Itachi a glare.

If she was to believe everything he said, then why the hell did he just leave it at that? She needed him to explain more things… like why it was his responsibility to save the world, and why he thought it was now her responsibility too.

Before she could open her mouth to let out a scream, a curse, or even the breath she had been holding in, Itachi's hands were making hand signs. Within a few seconds, the seals were released, and Itachi was already heading to the door.

Before he completely left, however, he looked over his shoulder, and gave Sakura the first unguarded look she had ever seen from him. Always, always, Itachi had an emotionless mask up, and Sakura took in a sharp breath as she looked into the black eyes, not red eyes, of Itachi Uchiha.

The look lasted only so long, and too soon Itachi had turned back around and the seals were in place. Taking in another deep breath, Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on entering her mind. This new development would cause her and Inner Sakura to have to rethink things a little bit…

Sakura didn't know much about people, but she wasn't stupid enough to ignore real emotion when she saw it. Itachi Uchiha had opened up to her, for some strange reason that she couldn't explain, and he had sought her out.

After seeing his face, Sakura was more inclined to help the Uchiha and his cause, even though she still couldn't bring herself to trust him. "How the hell am I supposed to help Itachi Uchiha anyway?" Sakura questioned quietly under her breath. He was supposed to be unstoppable… Damn it, she needed to talk to Inner Sakura.

XxxX

Running through the forest, the lone figure seemed to be moving at a pace that was beyond insane. The male, whom one could tell was a male only by stature for a large cloak covered him from view, was flying through trees. He had received a letter, and now he had to act upon it.

It had been a while since he had heard from the person who had sent him the letter, and it actually surprised him that said person had been able to get in touch with him. The person, even though he had not spoken to him in a while, was a trusted friend… it was strange to call him that, but it was true. And the letter contained information that was priceless, and information that he had been seeking for too long. The letter, however, also contained something that frightened him, and he could honestly say nothing had frightened him in a long time.

The male increased his pace as a village came to view; a village hidden in trees. It had been a long time since he had been home. Now, after six years of being gone, the male deemed it necessary to come back to the place he had promised never to go back to… well at least until a certain goal had been achieved.

That goal, which had yet to be completed, would be his reason for coming back, however. And also, his other goal was his other reason for returning.

As he arrived at the gate, the guards didn't even spare him a glance. The male was still masking his chakra, and he believed no one would be able to sense him. As he took a step forward, he paused.

"It's good to see you," a male said while walking out from behind a tree. This male… his previous sensei.

"Kakashi…"

"I'm glad you're here, Sasuke," Kakashi said as his mouth turned up only slightly. It seemed like the man before Sasuke was drained, and that in in itself was unsettling. "We need to go see Tsunade-sama immediately."

"Naruto only sent me a short message," Sasuke said as he and Kakashi took to the roof tops. The two were sprinting towards the Hokage tower; neither of them was visible to the civilian eye. He needed to know if the quickly scribbled words were correct…

"They have her Sasuke," Kakashi said as he let out a breath. "The Akatsuki took Sakura."

Sasuke's breath held tight, before he shook with anger; it had been a long time since the raven haired male had been so upset. "_**He**_did this."

"It was confirmed that Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki were the ones to capture her," Kakashi said quietly; it seemed this was not open knowledge to most of the village. "The only reason we know it was the two was because we found a piece of a torn Akatsuki cloak and some of Hoshigaki's blood."

"She was able to fight back," the raven haired male was able to forget his anger for a second as surprise took over him; Kakashi had to fight off a bitter smile at his reaction, Sasuke noticed.

"She's a lot stronger than you remember her to be," Kakashi said as the two arrived at the tower. "But she's still Sakura."

"I know," Sasuke said quietly before the two began to walk up the stairs to the tower. Sasuke assumed Naruto was already in the room with Tsunade; he had told the blonde when he would arrive after receiving the letter. But Sasuke wasn't thinking about being reunited with his old friend… the only thought that flittered through his mind was that nothing would stand in the way of him killing his brother now. It had gone too far, and Sasuke would skin Itachi alive if he had the chance.

* * *

><p>Oh ho ho, what is this? Both Uchiha have feelings? It certainly seems like it, but find out for sure what Sasuke's feelings are, and what Itachi is going through in the next chapter! : )<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm trying to update as many stories as I can before I got back to school. School starts on Tuesday, so we'll see how many more stories I can update within the next few days! Please read and review!

Try as I Might I've Never Strong Enough 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p>The Hokage's office was quiet as the group of two entered, and the solemn look of his best friend concerned him greatly. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Naruto so utterly depressed, but then again, he had not seen Naruto in a while either.<p>

But even when Sasuke knew Naruto all those years ago, he really knew Naruto. The two were utterly similar in ways he used to find distressing. Now, Sasuke had learned to accept what he and Naruto had when they were both twelve years old; he had accepted it and learned to understand it.

Sasuke had also learned to accept many other things, but that was a thought for a different time. He could feel the urgency of the group of four in front of him, and he wasn't sure if he was completely ready to hear what the Hokage was about to say.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Tsunade sighed slightly as her shoulders slouched; it seemed the blonde had been tense for some time. "Good, join us. We were about to get started."

Naruto acknowledge Sasuke with a nod of the head, and Sasuke could have sworn an emotion flowered on Naruto's face: hope. It was so good to see; it relieved Sasuke from some of the tension he felt. Whatever distress this was, he would face it with Naruto at his side.

Taking a step closer, he stood to the left of his blonde friend while his sensei stood to the right of him. Sasuke chose to ignore the other raven haired male in the room; he wasn't important enough to gain his acknowledgement.

After a few moments of silence, Sasuke looked back to the Hokage. She was looking disheveled and sickly; it seemed the pinkette's disappearance had caused a great amount of distress for the blonde haired woman. Sasuke had heard that Sakura had been Tsunade's apprentice; the Hokage must have been experiencing a great deal of turmoil in this last week.

"I have called you all together because someone close to us has gone missing. Sakura Haruno did not return from her mission, even though she had been due back almost a week ago. I sent a messenger hawk to Suna, the place where she had been coming from, and they said she had left on time, and she would have arrived in Konoha on time."

The blonde took a deep breath before she continued. "Another team was in the area, a team you are all familiar with. Kiba Inuzuka was on that team, and I had them look for anything that had went amiss. He discovered a battle ground, and Sakura was obviously the cause of most of it. She was able to injure one of her attackers; after finding and analyzing the blood, one Kisame Hoshigake's blood to be exact, we knew we were dealing with the Akatsuki."

The dread in her tone, the way she had said the Akatsuki… it had made him experience an unquestioning amount of terror. What did the Akatsuki want with Sakura?

"Why did they take Sakura-Chan?" Naruto spoke for the first time. His voice was cracked, hoarse, and made Sasuke feel a little more than bad for the blonde.

It was Tsunade's turn to sound hoarse. "I don't know Naruto… I just don't know."

Xxxx

Sakura sat on the floor again; this seemed to be the most comfortable place to think about her current dilemma. The Akatsuki. The big, criminal organization the Akatsuki wanted her in their ranks. She still didn't understand the whole thing, but she knew she had no choice but to agree.

Itachi, that man really confused her, but she seemed to trust him more than she knew she should. He hadn't told her everything; it seemed she was missing a huge fact, actually. Itachi Uchiha had said it was both of their duties to protect Konoha, and something told her he hadn't been joking. But that meant if Itachi Uchiha felt like he needed to protect Konoha, didn't that make him a loyal Konoha shinobi?

Her head was spinning, literally, and Kami did she want answers. She knew the only way to get answers, though, was through earning Itachi's trust, and to do that she needed to follow his lead without question or hesitation. That in itself was hard.

Itachi Uchiha had supposedly murdered his entire clan in one night; that was what she was told anyway. But really, how could Itachi Uchiha, the pride of the village, murder his entire clan to "test his abilities?" It didn't make any sense to her, and it didn't make any sense to Inner Sakura either. Frowning, Sakura felt the chakra of the man she had been thinking about for the last, she didn't even know how long, approach her door.

Sighing, she realized that this was the time when she would have to face that other man… Madara. She didn't trust him at all, but then, how could she? After hearing a little bit of the plan Madara was the mastermind of, Sakura didn't know whether to be completely fearful of him or to want to kick his ass so hard he wouldn't even think about his stupid plan anymore. But, Sakura thought wistfully, it was highly unlikely she would ever be able to kick a shinobi of Madara's caliber's ass.

She knew she wasn't as weak as what she had once been, but that didn't mean she was delusional either. Madara had so much more experience that she herself had. He also had the Sharingan, but besides that his aura was just terrifying. Sakura didn't know what Itachi had up his sleeve, but it had something to do with the two of them, Sakura and Itachi, stopping Madara.

As she felt the chakra seals unlock and the door begin to open, Sakura's eyes immediately went towards the ground. It was an act of submission, and it killed her to do it, but in this case it was also an act of survival. Inner Sakura had been able to cancel out Itachi's sharingan, but she didn't know what type of level Madara's sharingan would be on; surely it would have to be a much higher level than Itachi's.

And if Itachi wanted her to obey Madara then she would, for now. But this was also a two way street. If he wanted her to obey, then he was going to have to tell her things. She would have laughed at the thought of her and Itachi Uchiha actually coming to a compromise, but there were more severe matters to attend to first.

"Oh, Sakura-Chan," Madara cooed as he entered the bedroom. The tone of his voice caused a shiver to travel down Sakura's back; she hated this feeling of weakness. "Have you decided on what you would like to do?"

He was mocking her, because they both knew she had no choice. Really it was to agree with him or die, and she couldn't let Konoha down after what Itachi had told her.

With a slight tilt of her head, she looked to the orange masked shinobi. She could still see the crimson glint that was hiding behind the orange mask; the two contrasted so perfectly. It was strange to see orange and crimson. Shaking her head slightly, Sakura got out of the slight trance she had been in when looking at the mask; she wondered if it had that effect on all people.

"Yes," she said quietly; damn it. It actually pained Sakura to be this timid… she needed to break something after this talk.

"Aa," Madara said in an amused tone; she was sure if she could see his face she knew he would be smirking. She froze as he kneeled down in front of her. Her wide emerald eyes caught sight of Itachi's crimson, and he gave her a slight shake of the head.

Don't react, is what he is telling her. Making sure to keep her eyes on Itachi, Sakura almost cringed at the feeling of Madara's hand caressing her cheek.

"You will not regret your decision, Sakura-Chan," Madara once again cooed as his hand went from her cheek to caressing her hair. After a few more moments, Madara stood and looked to Itachi. Without a word to the dark haired man, Madara was gone.

Sakura brought her eyes up from the floor then. Itachi's eyes still glowed crimson, but somehow they were less menacing than they had been a few minutes ago. Before Sakura could speak, Itachi lifted one finger, and quickly resealed the door. Looking back to the raven haired male, Sakura sighed.

"Tell me again why I agreed to this?" Sakura asked as she stood from her spot on the floor. Her legs were asleep after sitting in that position for so long, but Sakura wasn't allowing that to affect her as she gazed at Itachi. "You never really explained this to me."

"And I probably won't anytime soon either," Itachi said quietly while looking away from the pinkette. "I will be working with you and helping you develop your skills so when we face Madara you will be ready.

"But we cannot continue this conversation right now," Itachi said as he looked to the door. "You have been ordered to heal Kisame."

Sakura's eyes glared forward and she almost, almost shook her head just out of defiance. Really, she had spent a bucket load of chakra on getting the blue skinned man to the level he was on; it wasn't fair to make her waste her chakra on healing him.

"I didn't hear him order me," Sakura muttered under her breath as she followed Itachi to the door. She knew the raven haired male heard her, but he must have deemed it unfit to answer, because he said nothing at all.

Sighing slightly, Sakura's emerald eyes darted around the corners of the hallway. Just because she was an Akatsuki member now did not mean she would not be wary. She barely trusted Itachi; there was no way she was going to trust anyone else in this prison.

Walking a good foot behind Itachi, Sakura allowed her chakra to flow around her. She could feel two chakra signatures she recognized only a few doors away; it seemed Deidara was keeping Kisame company in the medic wing. Well this is just wonderful, Sakura breathed out as she counted down from ten.

She had only encountered the blonde haired shinobi once, but Sakura knew that he didn't like her, and wouldn't like her especially after she had defeated his partner. And really, Sakura knew the feeling would be mutual.

Slowing her pace began to slightly slow as the impending feeling of doom that rose in her stomach; Sakura looked to the male in front of her. It irritated her greatly that he wasn't being more forth coming with any information he may have.

She understood he had to trust her at least to some extent to tell her what he had, but if he wanted her full cooperation, she wanted the whole story.

As Itachi opened the door to allow Sakura to walk through, Sakura was quick to dodge a rapid punch that was sent her way. She knew the blonde would try something right away. Glaring at the blonde to her right, Sakura appeared before him in an instant and flicked his forehead with her finger. She felt satisfied seeing him fly ten feet into the wall behind him.

Oh, Sakura thought with a smug smile, that made her feel a lot better. Itachi's glare that was directed at the blonde also made her feel better; at least he wasn't mad at her for protecting herself. And, she thought with a shark-like smile, see if Deidara would try a sneak attack on her again.

Walking to where Kisame lay on the gurney, Sakura's eyes swam over his body. She could easily see the areas that were bothering him: his stomach was bruised from her last attack, and she knew there was some internal damage that she would have to heal. The bruise on his left arm and leg were also an ugly purple-blue, and Sakura knew she would have to heal the fracture in his leg before his arm.

The stomach came first, Sakura thought as she took another step forward. Looking up to Kisame's small black eyes, Sakura sighed before her hands began to glow green. "I'm not happy about healing you,"  
>Sakura said as she placed her hands on Kisame's stomach. Kisame flinched slightly as she placed her hands on his stomach. "And because of that I will not send out a soothing chakra that usually numbs the pain that goes hand in hand with healing. I gave you these wounds damn it and you're at least going to feel them a little while longer."<p>

Kisame let out a raspy chuckle as he leaned back on the gurney. His small beady eyes watched the pinkette as she worked. "Little kunochi," Kisame said as he took in a breath and a sharp smile appeared on his face. "You are funny. It'll be nice to have you around."

"Yeah nice," Sakura muttered under her breath while placing both hands on his stomach. Sakura began to heal the internal bleeding Kisame had been dealing with for at least two days, and wondered how the male in front of her was alive.

"I think it's stupid," the blonde chimed in for the first time. Deidara had recovered from his collision with the wall, while Sakura secretly wished he would have stayed down a bit longer. "Seriously, why do we need her help, yeah? She's just a stupid little kunochi."

"That was able to kick your ass with a finger," Sakura reminded him helpfully while she switched to healing Kisame's leg. She grinned at the look on Deidara's face; it seemed she had wounded his pride a little bit.

Kisame let out another raspy chuckle, and Sakura thought in that moment maybe she would be able to survive her stay with the Akatsuki.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey hey people! I'm hoping to try to update more stories as I go : ) Thanks for all the support for this story so far, but feel free to show some love by reviewing! I know I say this every time I update, but I'm hoping to update more frequently.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p>Oh, how her thoughts had been wrong. Of course, Sakura thought sarcastically as her chakra receded from Kisame's system, she would attract attention from some other Akatsuki member.<p>

At the door, Sakura could feel the chakra of one other person; gritting her teeth, she could already tell she wasn't going to get along with this member either. His chakra was dark, and ominous… there was something ancient and otherworldly about it; even Inner Sakura wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

"Who's the hot bitch?" a deep voice rumbled from the door. Turning towards the voice, Sakura's eye widened incredulously.

The male before her had chin level silver hair and cold russet eyes. The most shocking thing about his appearance, however, was the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt at all. He wasn't the most ripped guy she had ever seen, but the fact that he was walking around without a shirt at all proved that he was rather proud of himself.

"She's Madara's new medic, yeah," Deidara responded with a snarl. The blond still appeared to be bitter about the punch she had sent him; she didn't feel bad about that one bit. "She's the one who killed Sasori-danna."

A light shone in the silver haired male's eyes and Sakura knew she was going to like this man even less that she had originally thought…

He took a step closer to her, and Sakura instinctively crouched into a defensive position. The scythe positioned on his back wasn't the most welcoming sight.

"I think we should spar," he said, and though Sakura would have like nothing more than to punch his face in, the look of excitement on his face made her immediately wary. Itachi's small step forward also made her rethink her initial reaction of wanting to punch his face in; he appeared to be worried for some reason.

"Tobi-sama would not approve of you harming the new medic, Hidan," Itachi's voice was no-nonsense and completely emotionless; to almost all in the room Itachi also seemed indifferent… Sakura could tell he was putting on a show though.

It was amazing to her that she could even notice the small difference in Itachi. It was subtle, but he seemed to be more open when they were both alone; this made her think that Itachi may completely be telling the truth. It also probably helped that she had been Kakashi's teammate when she was younger; she was used to looking underneath the underneath.

"Well Tobi-sama isn't here, Itachi," Hidan said with a smirk as he eyed Sakura up and down. She was wary as he took another step toward her; wasn't he afraid of Itachi at all? "And I can always find him a new medic if I happen to sacrifice this one to Jashin-sama."

Sakura was a little surprised to hear a disgruntled snort from behind her; turning she saw Kisame glare at Hidan.

"I went through way too much hassle bringing this medic back Hidan," Kisame said while standing from the hospital gurney. Sakura took a breath as she ignored the medic in her that told her to make Kisame stay seated for at least six more hours. Newly healed injuries were new skin, tissue, and bones; moving and stretching the newly healed body parts would cause discomfort for longer that it would if he had chosen to rest. She knew Kisame probably wouldn't appreciate her nagging, and she personally wasn't feeling kind enough to tell him about it either.

It surprised her to feel Kisame's blue hand resting on her shoulder. "You did come back looking purple rather than blue, yeah," Deidara said with a smirk to his lips. The grip on her shoulder tightened slightly.

"We weren't supposed to hurt her, you fucking idiot!" Kisame said while reaching for his sword. Kisame winced slightly as he took a menacing step forward; Inner Sakura laughed at seeing his discomfort. "Tobi-sama's orders."

"Tobi-sama Tobi-sama Tobi-sama," Deidara mimicked with a sneer. "That bastard was playing us for idiots only a few weeks ago… I don't know why we have to listen to him now, yeah."

"Well, Deidara-kun," A voice spoke from outside in the hallway. The voice was mockingly kind, and it sent chills down Sakura's back; it was almost like his chakra appeared out of nowhere. "Both Pein and Itachi knew I wasn't an idiot… but if the shoe fits for the rest of you buffoons…"

"Bastard, yeah," Deidara commented under his breath as the older Uchiha walked into the medic room. Sakura still found the orange mask to be highly ridiculous… Why would someone as scary as Madara Uchiha wear an orange mask? Sakura thought crimson or black would be more appropriate, and it would match with the Akatsuki cloaks better.

Madara appeared in front of Deidara in an instant, and Sakura was grateful he wasn't focused on her for once. It took only a moment later for Deidara to be on the ground, sweat running down his forehead.

"I was feeling rather generous today," Madara commented in an airy tone as he walked toward the door, "Because of our new member. So I didn't torture you for the full 72 hours. If I hear anyone questioning me again, however, you may not come out of it alive.

"The same goes for anyone who wants to harm our new member, Hidan," Madara said while giving Hidan a meaningful look. "Now with that said, carry along with your day. Pein will have missions for you all tomorrow morning."

With that said, Madara stalked out of the medic room. Sakura held her breath as she watched some of the tension from the room leave with him.

"You want to spar, Bitch?" She could hear the smirk in his voice without even needing to see it. Kami, it wasn't her day.

XxxX

The Hokage had given them the go ahead, and now he stood at the Konoha gate waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. Sasuke stood next to Naruto and Kakashi, who was surprisingly early. Sai stood across from the three as they all waited for the rest of the recovery team to arrive.

"When the hell is Kiba gonna get here?" Naruto questioned for the fourth time. It wasn't even six, which was the scheduled meeting time for the group, but the group of four was ready to leave, and it showed.

The four members of team seven were ready to get their only female member back, and all four of them were willing to do whatever it took to have her safely back in Konoha. The dark circles under all of their eyes were proof enough that her being gone was causing the four a great deal of suffering. None of them liked the idea of her being in the Akatsuki's grasp.

"Chill out Naruto," Kiba's voice carried as he appeared in the clearing with the rest of team eight "I understand you're worried about Sakura-Chan, but we just got back from our mission and are being sent out again; we haven't even been in the village for a full day."

Sasuke saw Naruto's look of fury, and Sasuke felt a wave of it too. Who the hell was Kiba Inuzuka to tell the males' to calm down? He obvious never had the Akatsuki kidnap his teammate… And why did he call her Sakura-Chan?

"I'm not saying we wouldn't have volunteered for this mission," Kiba amended as he looked in the eyes of Naruto. "It's just not even the scheduled meeting time."

Sasuke watched Naruto grit his teeth before Kakashi took a step forward. "Team eight," Kakashi's voice held no room for argument, and Sasuke was once again thankful he had been their sensei. The man had let them down a few times when they were genin, but Kakashi could not be replaced when it came to search and rescue missions; Sasuke had heard Kakashi's track record with recovery was almost 100 percent. "We need to get going. The sooner we get to the location you found the battle sight the sooner we can search for Sakura-Chan."

Nodding, the group of seven left the village gates. Sasuke raced in the front of the pack with Naruto beside him; Kiba was the only one who ran in front of them.

"It's nice to see you here, Uchiha," Kiba said with a snort. "Who knew Sakura getting kidnapped would be the thing that brought you back to the village."

Sasuke felt rage flare through his veins, but it was not just rage toward Kiba. He was angry at how truthful Kiba's words were… Of course he hadn't been expecting to come back before he had finished his first goal, but Naruto's message had been a cold slap to the face. It had been the thing to make Sasuke realize how much he really did care about his team.

"Kiba-kun," Hinata's voice chided as she raced next to Naruto. "Stop antagonizing Sasuke-san. It doesn't matter what reason he has for helping us as long as we get Sakura back."

Hearing Hinata's words, Kiba cringed slightly. "Yeah… Sorry."

Sasuke ignored the Inuzuka male as his previous thoughts continued. Sakura wouldn't be in the mess she was in if he had still be in the village. Sasuke would have been able to protect her and keep her safe; Itachi wouldn't have had a chance to take her away from him.

Rage clouded his mind as thoughts of his brother with Sakura raced through his mind. He had taken her because of him, hadn't he? Kami, he promised himself after Sakura was safe back in Konoha he was going to murder Itachi two times over. He would skin Itachi alive if he actually hurt her.

XxxX

Sakura kept the smile off her face as she arrived at the designated training area. Of course, she and Inner Sakura couldn't just say no to Hidan. It was kind of a pride thing, but Sakura also wanted to show the Akatsuki members that she was one that shouldn't be messed with.

The underground training facility looked much like the training grounds back in Konoha, and it made her slightly homesick. Ignoring the feeling settling in her stomach, Sakura instead surveyed her opponent.

The scythe in his arms looked even more menacing than it did when it was on his back. With the way he was holding it in his hands, Sakura knew the weapon was going to be used differently than how a regular scythe would.

_Who the hell uses a scythe anyways, _Inner Sakura asked as her eyes scanned their opponent. Someone who is sadistic, for sure, Sakura found herself answering.

Looking to the sidelines, the rest of the Akatsuki in the building had gathered to watch their match. Deidara looked terribly excited, which kind of scared Sakura a little bit… Itachi's concerned face did nothing to make her feel better either.

Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to fight this man, but then again she had to make a name for herself here; she didn't want all of the Akatsuki members to think she was weak and could easily be targeted. She also wanted to test her skills against a different member; she already knew what Itachi and Kisame could do.

If she ever had a chance to return to Konoha this would all be good Intel. She would need to know as much as possible about the people who are in Akatsuki: this included their strengths, fighting styles, and weaknesses.

Bringing her hands out in front of her and shifting her legs, Sakura found herself in a defensive position before the match had even began. Itachi was supposed to be acting as a referee of sorts, and he was supposed to be the one to stop it before anyone got too hurt… it was the only way he would agree to the spar in the first place.

Hidan was looking smug, and Sakura was practically drowning in his self-confidence. She waited for Itachi to nod before the battle began.

Looking at the man in front of her, Sakura assessed that Hidan didn't appear to be the most patient of people; she would put herself on the defensive until she could assess his skills.

This was the battle strategy she lived by. It was the reason she had been able to get in so many good hits on Kisame; she had surprised him with her strength after dodging his hits for some time.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura dug her heels into the ground as she watched Hidan begin to get bored… she knew it would only be a matter of time before-

Dodging backwards, Sakura was slightly surprised when the scythe was sent hurtling toward her within a few seconds. Watching as Hidan flicked his wrist, the scythe moved to follow Sakura's action as he started racing towards her.

Raising an eyebrow, Sakura dodged to the left before rolling out of the way as Hidan appeared before her. The area she had just been in had been crushed under the blow Hidan had delivered with his scythe. Noticing the maniac-like look in Hidan's eyes, Sakura nodded her head before getting down to business.

She could dodge attacks all day; that was something Tsunade-Shishou had engraved in her many years prior. Dipping low before flipping back proved that, Sakura thought as she found herself dodging an almost undodgeable attack. She had heard Deidara's grunt of disbelief from where she now stood a few meters away from Hidan.

Kisame and Itachi didn't seem surprised, Sakura noticed, but that was probably because they had seen her abilities when they had been "testing" her earlier.

Powering more chakra through her fists, Sakura flexed her fingers before sidestepping Hidan's scythe and waiting for his retaliation. His body flickered to where her body had been, and Sakura waited. Bringing her fist forward, Sakura watched as Hidan swiveled his body out of the way of her fist.

Sending her left foot up, Sakura watched as Hidan's scythe flew towards her and as he dodged backward. Gritting her teeth as she bent forward to avoid the impact of the scythe, Sakura was able to dodge the scythe's sharp blades.

Flipping backwards, Sakura rethought her strategy. With his scythe, Hidan was able to dodge and attack at the same time. The scythe also proved to be a short ranged, mid-ranged, and long-ranged weapon; he could attack her at any time.

She would have to get rid of the scythe if she wanted to do him any real damage. Nodding at her thoughts, Sakura dodged another scythe attack before trying to put her plan into action.

Allowing the chakra to evaporate from her hands, Sakura instead brought her hands together in a few hand signs.

She had learned a lot from Kakashi when he had been her sensei, and now she was going to use that to her advantage. Disappearing from sight, Sakura quickly concealed her chakra completely after making a clone.

The clone appeared behind Hidan and began to fight him in taijutsu. As her clone attacked Hidan, Sakura took her time to circle the battle from underground and then burrow deeper. Creating a system of tunnels, Sakura waited until her clone disappeared before reappearing above ground.

Grinning slightly as she appeared a few yards in front of Hidan, Sakura wove her hands into a complex set of hand signs. She was curious as to how susceptible the Akatsuki member was to genjutsu. She had been too nervous to try genjutsu against Kisame, because she had assumed Itachi would have dispelled it right away. Now, Sakura thought as she weaved a genjutsu, she wasn't so worried about the Uchiha.

Finishing her hand signs, Sakura watched as Hidan's russet eyes clouded over. Stringing her hands together in another genjutsu, Sakura layered a few together before getting closer.

She trusted her genjutsu was strong enough to hold an elite ninja in place for at least a minute, but she wasn't so sure with Hidan… there was something off-putting about the silver haired male, and it wasn't just his ominous chakra.

Allowing chakra to flow through her hands again, Sakura's fist clenched and she made a motion to punch Hidan in the stomach, but quickly back pedaled as blood splattered on her face. With wide eyes, Sakura ducked backwards and put a few yards between herself and the panting male.

"You fucking bitch," Hidan seethed. Sakura was surprised to find herself completely unharmed… the blood had been from Hidan. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she found the bleeding scratch mark on Hidan's torso… he must have harmed himself to get out of her genjutsu. "Genjutsu doesn't work on me."

_It kind of did actually, _Inner Sakura chimed helpfully as Hidan sent his scythe barreling at Sakura once again. Sakura couldn't help but frown at Hidan as he followed his scythe and forced Sakura on the defensive again. She had been trying to get his scythe away from him, but it seemed she couldn't get close enough to even try.

_Then get closer, idiot, _Inner Sakura said with a grin. Sakura rolled her eyes slightly, but couldn't help but to agree with her. She had already set up something to help her finish him off, but she'd rather him not have his scythe.

Sakura waited for Hidan to come at her again, which, predictably he did. Sakura was amazed Hidan had won so many battles with being as predictable as he was. His attack pattern was very similar, and Sakura didn't need the Sharingan to know what way Hidan's scythe was going to be thrown.

Instead of dodging like before, Sakura stepped into the attack and dipped her shoulder slightly. The bottom part of the three tiered scythe scraped into her shoulder, but Sakura ignored the pain as she slammed one fist into Hidan's torso and held onto his scythe with the other.

Sakura watched in satisfaction as Hidan was sent flying backwards from her surprise counter-attack. It seemed he had been trying to read her movements as well, and she had caught him off guard by not dodging his attack completely.

Gripping the scythe, Sakura's position shifted to accommodate the scythes size. Even if the weapon was completely ridiculous, Sakura could still appreciate the craftsmanship of it. Someone had taken years carving the handle, and Sakura knew she shouldn't break it.

Instead, Sakura threw the scythe over to the peanut gallery and watched as Kisame caught it without a word. She nodded over to him, and then clenched her fists and turned towards Hidan once again.

Hidan was standing, but had a hand on his stomach. His eyes were wide as he looked Sakura up and down slowly.

"Jashin-sama you are fucking delicious," Hidan purred as his eyes scanned her up and down. Taking a self-conscious step backwards Sakura's eyes realized what he was talking about as she took in her appearance.

She had a foot sized cut on her shoulder which was bleeding, and was covered in his blood from earlier. Pulling her nose slightly in disgust, Sakura knew she would have to end this soon so she could take a shower. She was used to blood, but the look Hidan was giving her was sickening.

Flying through a few easy hand signs, Sakura allowed her hand to glow with emerald chakra as she healed her shoulder. Ignoring the blood that covered her body, Sakura brought her fists into an attacking poise before leaping forward.

Hidan was at the exact location she wanted him to be; even if he were to dodge this next punch, Sakura had a different surprise for him.

As she thought, Hidan dodged Sakura's fist and instead, she slammed it into the ground. The ground below her fist shattered, and Sakura grinned as the ground continued to shatter under her fist. Sakura watched as Hidan tried to jump backwards to dodge, but he couldn't find his foot bearings. The tunnels she had created earlier had made the ground weak.

Flying backward, Sakura watched as Hidan's eyes widened before he disappeared below the ground. She had made the tunnels deep, and she knew that he wouldn't be able to crawl back up the hole for a good ten minutes. The chunks of ground that were falling on top of him probably wouldn't help him any.

Grinning as she walked towards the three Akatsuki members, Sakura nodded to Kisame before she stood beside Itachi. She ignored Deidara and the dumbfounded look he had on his face. Really, he shouldn't be so surprised; she had beat his Danna all those years ago after all.

"I think I'd like a shower," Sakura said as she looked at Itachi. She remembered that Itachi was supposed to be the one in charge of her here, and even though Sakura didn't trust him fully yet, she trusted him more than she did anyone else here.

She ignored Kisame's grunt of laughter as she watched Itachi's head nod.

"Follow me."


End file.
